Thanks for you comments.

Yes, NB stands for New Brunswick.
One more things I was reprimanded by one of my mentor is not to store my
blanks for drying with the bottoms up but with bottom down instead. That is
without anchorseal on the inside.


"George" george@least wrote in message
...
Our variety of red oak, the genuine Q. rubrum, behaves superbly when
drying.
The measures you suggest have proven unnecessary, even for year-old logs.
Truth be known, I haven't ever used any of them more than a few times,
because I discovered benign neglect was all that I needed. That I am more
than willing to give! I have a basement. If the NB is New Brunswick, you
should have the same available, I would think. White oak, with its larger
ray figure might be different. Don't know, as it doesn't grow this far
north.

The bottom thickness business is mentioned often, but on a bowl cut across
the grain, that 's the part under the least radial stress, which is
generated by the early wood shrinking. It's also normally tapered to
what
will become the bottom, reducing actual cross-grain section to a minimum.
Wood technology says there should not be a problem. My experience is the
same.

Are the people who have trouble leaving the bottoms of their bowls thick
also leaving them exceptionally wide, rather than tapering inside and out?
The only bowls that consistently cracked for me were the ones with
vertical
sides. That makes sense, since the stress developed by shrinkage between
the close rings cannot be relieved obliquely. When I used to fuss over
drying methods the first deformation I observed was a "fold" at the ends,
which would have been the result of the bottom shrinking across the grain.
This appeared prior to the upward bulge - what our brothers of the flat
call
"crown"- generated by shrinkage between tightly curved annual rings
dropping
the long grain edges. The key evidence that stress is relieved by shape
shows when the crown on the inside of the bowl - the part with most wood
underneath, rises more than the outside, a mere inch away.

Oh yes, I haven't yet figured out why someone would coat the interior of a
bowl with a sealer, as the natural drying geometry will close those pores,
even as it tries to spread the outside.
One thing for sure - hold moisture in too long and you get mildew.

"Denis Marier" wrote in message
...
Removing the pit as quickly as possible may work with oak more so right
after the tree has been cut. With fruit wood, ash and at time oak my
mentor suggested to fill the inside of the rough bowl with wet wood
chips
and then place the bowl into a plastic bag. When in doubt it was
suggested
to apply three coats of Anchorseal. The other thing suggested was that
when
roughing the bowl the wall thickness should be about 10% of diameter of
the
rough bowl. The wall thickness should be uniform throughout so as not
to
create stress points. I have noticed that the wall thickness of most of
my
cracked oak and ash bowls are not uniformed and consistent. FWIW